kes

It was 32 degrees in the conservatory yesterday, so of course, I fired up the air brush and sprayed the 48xx Green. It then cooked well in the heat.

I mark the position of the rivet lines in pencil on the model. These rivets give the ability to add detail to cast models or older models.

The rivets come in small sheets, and are cut with a very sharp knife and a straight edge, then applied as per water slide transfers. They do rivets, bolt heads etc in a range of sizes and spacing to suit most scales.

I have applied a coat of glossy grey primer to the engine, so I can add the rivet details. These are from Archer Surface Details, and are water slide lines of rivets at set distances from each other. They are very fiddly to apply, and need spray coating with primer once dry, to prevent them coming off.

The next job is to make the firebox backhead and add more pipework from more copper wire. I have some good photos to work from. I was suprised to see that these locos were screw reverse, rather than the lever type as on the pannier tanks.

I have been busy over the last few days, making and adding details to the 48xx, including the brake hangers, rodding and shoes, sand boxes and pipes, fire iron supports, lamp irons, handrails etc etc. I am astounded at the number of little details still needed to be added to the loco. I previously semi-scratchbuilt an A3, and it seemed to have a lot less bits and pieces! A lot of the pipework comes from redundant household electrical cabling, with pipe supports made from twisted 15 amp fuse wire. I used a card jig to hold the supports in place whilst soldering them to the pipe, then used the card jig to drill the holes in the valance, so they had to line up. The photos are slightly out of focus due to the amount of sunlight yesterday (!) reflecting off the shiny metal.

Today I modified the chassis so the front axle rocks on a central bar, and sprung the trailing axle. The front axle bushes will be prevented from rotating either by sprung wires in holes, or flats filed on the sides of the flanges and strip soldered to the chassis. More filling of joints has taken place. The motor gearbox is made from a slice of 19mm aluminium channel, drilled to accept brass bushes and then reamed for an accurate fit.

I think I am going to use Archer surface details water slide rivets on this one. I have used them successfully in the past on cast kits.

The 48XX is progressing, I now have all the big bits soldered together, and I am in the process of filling all the gaps in the castings with Squadron white putty. As regards the chassis, I think I am going to let the front axle rock on a middle pivot bar, and spring the trailing axle. The boiler is going to be full of lead so it should balance nicely.

The Fruit D now has its transfers and some light weathering applied with the airbrush. The J50 in the previous pictures runs on the LMS/LNER line on the other side of the shed which goes around the garden. It has now been weathered.

These old kits can be made to look very good with a bit of hard work. It is not unusual to find one tank side might be longer than the other (!) but as long as you can file and solder, you can produce an acceptable model. The bonus is that it will weigh a ton so traction will not be a problem. My J50 also a CCW kit irons out the track as it runs!

I have also started work on an old CCW white metal kit for a 48xx. Very big white metal castings so I got out my 75 watt iron and lamp dimmer combo to deal with it. All moulded hand rails have been removed with a sharp chisel as they will be replaced with wire and knobs as appropriate.

The Fruit D now has two coats of chocolate paint on top of the under coat, and the transfers will be applied in the next few days. It has buffers and Dingham couplers attached and has been successfully around the garden loop without falling off.

Subsequent to John's excellent photos I have now created the under frame details, and added the rain strips, ventilators and gas lamps to the roof. I have yet to decide on the size and position of the gas cylinder.

The extra 3' of length makes all the difference. The little shunter takes over a minute to get from one end to the other!

Last night, Boris and I had a running session, with Peter making tea and watching, and Trevor drinking tea and watching. We had a good selection of freight stock varying from semi scratch built LMS long low, through to Palfits and other wonderful BR wagons.

Thanks John for the link, it is going to be very helpful to me. Your vehicle looks excellent. Mine will be finished in GWR brown. Kevin.

Great work Paul - looks like my O gauge plate wagons have shrunk!. The G5 looks like it will have plenty of weight.

I have a diagram for the brake gear so I should be able to make that from scrap. I have made one axle pivot by sleeving the axle using 1/8" bore tube and soldering a cross piece of 2mm rod to it, which pivots freely in the bent brass strip mounted on the floor. The axle ends are cut off so they don't foul the axle box castings.

I recently bought off ebay some parts comprising resin sides, a wooden roof and 4 axle guards, for a GWR Fruit D, made by Q kits. I have added parts from plasticard and strut, and I am slowly making progress.

Hi, just a thought that might get you a few more inches of space-peco points are nominally 6' radius. Marcway do points with a 4'6" radius which are a bit shorter. Dapol panniers will handle these fine. You can gain about 4" over the length of a crossover. I make my own points from copper clad strip and bullhead rail, but there are a few suppliers of sleepers, chairs and rail on the internet. I found moving the actual stock about on the board before laying any track confirmed the clearances. I have two o gauge layouts on the forum, Pawson's Pickles, which is 78" long, and my GWR terminus which is 15'6" including a 3'6" traverser. Good luck with your layout, it looks like it is going to be fun. Kevin.

We might get an G5, N10, Y7 all together on the layout this year.

Make sure it is unplugged from the control panel first.

The tank now has the ladders and tank locating straps added. Still needs tare numbers adding.